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Friday, March 5, 2010

Inspiration is the bread and butter of creation, whether we are creating a dress or a car. It can be found anywhere from the cigarette burned bench at the local park to the smell of a stranger walking past you on a crowded sidewalk, other times it’s a fixed thing like the work of a certain photographer or period in time or a movie.At times it is so appealing it draws many people towards its influence and when we think of fashion it becomes a bit difficult to discern who got there first. The high street is full of wares “inspired” by high end designers and brands and it is common to hear how no one is truly original. Recently a designer claimed someone much more famous than her borrowed her idea for a collection you may recall it as one of the outfits Lady Gagawears in her video for Paparazzi, the print was slightly different but the main motif was the same, even the color was the same which is a bit odd as it’s a very distinctive shade, the difference between collections? About 6 years so it is possible said famous designer might have seen it somewhere however I don’t mean to play devil’s advocate but could it not be they reached the same interpretation of what is a very widely known inspiration by pure chance? Other times it is gloriously clear it was a coincidence and that these minds were listening to the same frequency as is the case with Hope hailing from Sweden

andAlexandre Herchcovitch from Brazil,within a couple weeks frame both presented a collection inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s (no relation to Ingrid) 1956 movie The Seventh Seal seemingly still retaining the ability to keep audiences spellbound.Each presentation gave out a different approach to the same theme; Herchcovitch was all about making a theatrical impact with the styling and Hope calmer as if trying to represent the melancholic mood of the main character.Hope gave each look a stand on its own approach while Herchcovitch was all about developing the stages of the movie but then both have a similar silhouette and similar color palette and the checks print which is an ever-present subject in Bergman’s movie.This is a cult movie that has probably inspired countless others but the fact that Ann Ringstrand/Stefan Soderberg and Alexandre Herchcovitch were all into it at the same time proofs that sometimes creative individuals can tap into the same resources when in a certain mood and that sometimes what may strike as a blatant rip off can simply be a coincidence.It’s like when reading a post you think of something cleaver to comment but then someone else has already posted your exact words, it’s a murky area and judgment should not be made lightly unless it’s a frequent occurrence in which case there’s an unrepentant copier in our hands. And as for the new “fuller” attire we’re seeing on the runways these days you can thank the TV gods because a lot of designers are obsessed with Mad Men.